System for determining an objective video quality measure of a real-time video communication without extensive mathematical operations

ABSTRACT

A new real-time video communication system includes a set of electronic devices. Each device runs a specialized real-time video communication software application including a video quality module. The video quality module retrieves network connection statistic data from a network connection module, and video encoder statistic data from a video quality module. The video quality module uses the network connection statistic data and the video encoder statistic data to determine a first objective video quality measure without extensive mathematical operations. The video quality module also uses the first objective video quality measure, the network connection statistic data and the video encoder statistic data to determine a second objective quality measure without extensive mathematical operations.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.17/154,560, entitled “SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR DETERMINING AN OBJECTIVEVIDEO QUALITY MEASURE OF A REAL-TIME VIDEO COMMUNICATION WITHOUTEXTENSIVE MATHEMATICAL OPERATIONS”, filed Jan. 21, 2021, which is herebyincorporated by reference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE DISCLOSURE

The present invention generally relates to real-time video communicationand more particularly relates to a system and method for determining anobjective video quality measure. More particularly still, the presentdisclosure relates to a system and method for determining an objectivevideo quality measure without extensive mathematical operations.

DESCRIPTION OF BACKGROUND

In real-time video communication systems, both audio and video data areexchanged between participating electronic devices (such as laptopcomputers, desktop computers, tablet computers, smartphones, etc.).Real-time video communication has become more and more papular in recentyears. In particular, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, real-time videocommunication has become widely deployed by for online classrooms,business operations, government agencies and departments, and many otherentities.

During real-time video communication, video data captured by a camera ofone electronic device is forwarded to one or more other participatingelectronic devices. The received video data is then displayed on displayscreens of the receiving electronic devices, Before it is displayed onthe receiving devices, the captured video data goes through a number ofstages of processing. Such processing and transmission over theunderlying connecting network (such as the Internet) sometimes causedegradation to the quality of the video.

However, human beings are very sensitive to visual signal impairment. Itis thus crucial to objectively evaluate the quality of the receivedvideo. One essential step of the video processing is compression.Accordingly, it is crucially important to quantitatively evaluate theeffect of compression on the quality of the received video.

Generally speaking, there are two categories of Video Quality Assessment(VQA)—objective metric and subjective scores. The objective metricincludes traditional Peak Signal-to-Noise Ratio (PSNR) and StructuralSimilarity Index Measure (SSIM). Video Multimethod Assessment Fusion(VMAF) is a newer objective full-reference video quality metric. Theymeasure the video quality based on the loss between the distortionimages and reference images. However, each of the conventional objectivevideo quality metric requires a large quantity of mathematicalcalculations. The big amount of computation itself consumessignificantly amount of time, resource of the processing unit (such asCPU), and power. The significant computer resource consumption is notsuitable for mobile devices, such as smartphones that have very limitedbattery life.

Subjective scores are usually generated by crowds. Contributors willwatch and then rate the videos. After data cleaning, the mean opinionscore (MOS) is generated. The application of the MOS is then a differentand difficult issue. The popular methods nowadays are all based on deeplearning algorithms. However, deep learning algorithms lead to extensivecalculation. In certain situations, such computation is ore extensivethan the abovementioned objective methods for evaluating video quality.Therefore, the subjective scores are also not applicable for mobiledevices.

Accordingly, there is a need for a new system and a new method toquantitatively measure video quality that are applicable for mobiledevices. The new method does not involve extensive computation and thusconsumes less resource and fits mobile devices. Furthermore, the newmethod needs to be performed within a real-time video communicationelectronic device for determining the video quality.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

Generally speaking, pursuant to the various embodiments, the presentdisclosure provides a computer-implemented method for determining anobjective video quality measure of a real-time video communicationbetween a set of participating electronic devices over a network withoutextensive mathematical operations. The method is performed a real-timevideo communication system electronic device and includes sending videodata to a set of real-time video communication system electronic devicesfrom the real-time video communication system electronic device over theInternet over a network interface. The real-time video communicationsystem electronic device includes a processing unit; a memoryoperatively coupled to the processing unit; one or more input interfacesoperatively coupled to the processing unit; an audio output interfaceoperatively coupled to the processing unit; the network interfaceoperatively coupled to the processing unit; a video output interfaceoperatively coupled to the processing unit; and a video input interfaceoperatively coupled to the processing unit. The sent video data capturedby the video input interface. The method also includes an audio inputinterface operatively coupled to the processing unit; an operatingsystem executed by the processing unit; and a specialized real-timevideo communication software application adapted to be executed by theprocessing unit and perform the method. The specialized real-time videocommunication software application having a video quality module. Themethod further includes sending audio data, captured by the audio inputinterface, to the set of real-time video communication system electronicdevices over the network interface; receiving video data to from one ormore devices within the set of real-time video communication systemelectronic devices over the network interface; outputting the receivedvideo data over the video output interface; receiving audio data to fromone or more devices within the set of real-time video communicationsystem electronic devices over the network interface; outputting thereceived audio data over the audio output interface; the video qualitymodule receiving network connection statistic data from a networkconnection module, the network connection statistic data indicatingstatus of a network connection with the set of real-time videocommunication system electronic devices over the network interface, thenetwork connection statistic data including a Nitrate; the video qualitymodule receiving video encoder statistic data from a video encoder; thevideo quality module determining a first objective video quality measureusing the network connection statistic data and the video encoderstatistic data without expensive mathematical operations; and the videoquality module determining a second objective video quality measureusing the first objective video quality measure, the network connectionstatistic data and the video encoder statistic data without expensivemathematical operations. In one implementation, the video encoder is anH.264 encoder.

Further in accordance with the present teachings is a specializedreal-time video communication software application for determining anobjective video quality measure of a real-time video communicationbetween a set of participating electronic devices over a network withoutextensive mathematical operations. The specialized real-time videocommunication software application is executed within a real-time videocommunication system electronic device and adapted to send video data toa set of real-time video communication system electronic devices fromthe real-time video communication system electronic device over theInternet over a network interface; send audio data, captured by theaudio input interface, to the set of real-time video communicationsystem electronic devices over the network interface; receive video datato from one or more devices within the set of real-time videocommunication system electronic devices over the network interface;output the received video data over the video output interface; receiveaudio data to from one or more devices within the set of real-time videocommunication system electronic devices over the network interface;output the received audio data over the audio output interface; receivenetwork connection statistic data from a network connection module bythe video quality module, the network connection statistic dataindicating status of a network connection with the set of real-timevideo communication system electronic devices over the networkinterface, the network connection statistic data including a bitrate;receive video encoder statistic data by the video quality module from avideo encoder; and by the video quality module, determine a firstobjective video quality measure using the network connection statisticdata and the video encoder statistic data without expensive mathematicaloperations. The specialized real-time video communication softwareapplication is further adapted to, by the video quality module,determine a second objective video quality measure using the firstobjective video quality measure, the network connection statistic dataand the video encoder statistic data without expensive mathematicaloperations. In one implementation, the video encoder is an H.264encoder.

Further in accordance with the present teachings is a real-time videocommunication system electronic device for determining an objectivevideo quality measure of a real-time video communication with a secondreal-time video communication system electronic devices over a networkconnection. The real-time video communication system electronic deviceincludes a processing unit; a memory operatively coupled to theprocessing unit; one or more input interfaces operatively coupled to theprocessing unit; an audio output interface operatively coupled to theprocessing unit; a network interface operatively coupled to theprocessing unit; a video output interface operatively coupled to theprocessing unit; a video input interface operatively coupled to theprocessing unit; an audio input interface operatively coupled to theprocessing unit; an operating system executed by the processing unit;and a real-time video communication software application that is adaptedto be executed by the processing unit and includes a video qualitymodule. The real-time video communication software application isadapted to send video data to the second real-time video communicationsystem electronic device over the Internet over the network interface.The sent video data is captured by the video input interface. Thereal-time video communication software application is further adapted tosend audio data, captured by the audio input interface, to the secondreal-time video communication system electronic device over the networkinterface; receive video data to from the second real-time videocommunication system electronic device over the network interface;output the received video data over the video output interface; receiveaudio data to from the second real-time video communication systemelectronic device over the network interface; output the received audiodata over the audio output interface; and by the video quality module,receive network connection statistic data from a network connectionmodule. The network connection statistic data indicates status of anetwork connection with the second real-time video communication systemelectronic device over the network interface. The network connectionstatistic data includes a bitrate. The video quality module is adaptedto receive video encoder statistic data from a video encoder; anddetermine a first objective video quality measure using the networkconnection statistic data and the video encoder statistic data. In oneembodiment, the video encoder is an H.264 video encoder. In oneembodiment, the video encoder statistic data includes a p_avg_qp, andthe first objective video quality measure is given by:

${{First\_ video}{\_ quality}{\_ measure}} = {{a_{1} \times {p\_ avg}{\_ qp}} + {a_{2} \times \frac{bitrate}{2}} + {a_{3} \times \frac{{p\_ avg}{\_ qp}^{3}}{625}} + {a_{4} \times {\log({bitrate})}} + {a_{5}.}}$

In one embodiment, a1=41206, a2=0.266, a3=−0.386, a4=0.257, a5=−129.61,In one embodiment, the real-time video communication softwareapplication is further adapted to, by the video quality module,determine a second objective video quality measure using the firstobjective video quality measure, the network connection statistic dataand the video encoder statistic data. In one embodiment, the videoencoder statistic data includes a frame_rate, a p_16×16I, a p_8×8I, ap_4×4I, a p_16×16, a p_16×8, a p_8×8, a p_skip, a y_intra, a dc_intra, aac_intra, a y_inter, a dc_inter, a ac_inter, and wherein the secondobjective video quality measure is given by:

Second_video_quality_measure=First_video_quality_measure+a₆×frame_rate+a ₇ ×p_16×16I+a ₈ ×p_8×8I+a ₉ ×p_4×4I+a ₁₀ ×p_16×16+a ₁₁×p_16×8+a ₁₂ ×p_8×8+a ₁₃ ×p_skip+a ₁₄ ×y_intra+a ₁₅ ×dc_intra+a ₁₆×ac_intra+a ₁₇ ×y_inter+a ₁₈ ×dc_inter+a ₁₉ ×ac_inter,

In one embodiment, a1=−0.206, a2=0.266, a3=−0.386, a4=0.257, a5=−129.61,a6=−0.296, a7=1.997, a8=−2.08e-14, a9=2.631, a10=2.174, a11=2.14,a12=2.043, a13=2.158, a14=0.00942, a15=0.1022, a16=−0.0374, a17=0.0342,a18=−0.0137, a19=−0.179.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The patent or application file contains at least one drawing executed incolor. Copies of this patent or patent application publication withcolor drawing(s) will be provided by the Office upon request and paymentof the necessary fee.

Although the characteristic features of this disclosure will beparticularly pointed out in the claims, the invention itself, and themanner in which it may be made and used, may be better understood byreferring to the following description taken in connection with theaccompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein Ike referencenumerals refer to like parts throughout the several views and in which:

FIG. 1 is an illustrative block diagram of a real-time videocommunication system in accordance with the teachings of thisdisclosure.

FIG. 2 is an illustrative block diagram of a real-time videocommunication device in accordance with this disclosure.

FIG. 3 is an illustrative block diagram of a specialized real-time videocommunication software application for objectively measure real-timecommunication video quality without extensive mathematical operations inaccordance with this disclosure.

FIG. 4 is a simplified block diagram illustrating the process to assessthe accuracy of the objective video quality measures in accordance withthis disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a plot diagram showing the correlation between two types ofscores measuring video quality in real-time video communication inaccordance with this disclosure.

A person of ordinary skills in the art will appreciate that elements ofthe figures above are illustrated for simplicity and clarity, and arenot necessarily drawn to scale. The dimensions of some elements in thefigures may have been exaggerated relative to other elements to helpunderstanding of the present teachings. Furthermore, a particular orderin which certain elements, parts, components, modules, steps, actions,events and/or processes are described or illustrated may not be actuallyrequired. A person of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that,for the purpose of simplicity and clarity of illustration, some commonlyknown and well-understood elements that are useful and/or necessary in acommercially feasible embodiment may not be depicted in order to providea clear view of various embodiments in accordance with the presentteachings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Turning to the Figures and to FIG. 1 in particular, an illustrativeblock diagram of a real-time video communication system is shown andgenerally indicated at 100. The real-time video communication system 100includes a set of participating electronic devices, such as thoseindicated at 102, 104, 106 and 108. The real-time video communicationsystem electronic devices 102-108 communicate with each other over theInternet 110. They connect to the Internet 110 via local area networks,such as Wi-Fi networks, public cellular phone networks, Ethernetnetworks, etc. Each of the electronic devices 102-108 is furtherillustrated by reference to FIG. 2 .

Referring to FIG. 2 , a simplified block diagram of a real-time videocommunication device, such as the device 102, is shown. The device 102includes a processing unit (such as a central processing unit (CPU))202, some amount of memory 204 operatively coupled to the processingunit 202, one or more input interfaces (such as a mouse interface, akeyboard interface, a touch screen interface, etc.) 206 operativelycoupled to the processing unit 202, an audio output interface 208operatively coupled to the processing unit 202, a network interface 210operatively coupled to the processing unit 202, a video output interface214 (such as a display screen) operatively coupled to the processingunit 202, a video input interface 214 (such as a camera) operativelycoupled to the processing unit 202, and an audio input interface 214(such as a microphone) operatively coupled to the processing unit 202.The device 102 also includes an operating system (such as iOS 10) 220executed by the processing unit 202, and a specialized real-time videocommunication software application 222 adapted to be executed by theprocessing unit 202. The real-time video communication softwareapplication 222 is programmed using one or more computer programminglanguages, such as C, C++, C #, Java, etc. It includes or uses a videoencoder, an audio encoder, a video decoder and an audio decoder. As usedherein, the encoders and decoders are said to be part of the specializedreal-time video communication software application 222.

The specialized real-time video communication software application 222sends video data (such as frames captured by the video input device214), and audio data (such as audio data captured by the audio inputdevice 216) to other participating devices, receives video data and/oraudio data from other participating devices, and outputs the receiveddata on the device on which it is running. A participating electronicdevice may only receive data, such as video data, audio data or both. Itmay also send out and receives data, such as video data, audio data orboth.

The specialized real-time video communication software application 222is further illustrated by reference to FIG. 3 . Referring to FIG. 3 , asimplified block diagram of the specialized real-time videocommunication software application 222 is shown. The softwareapplication 222 includes a network connection module 302 that determinesthe network connection status and provides network connection status andstatistic data 322, a video encoder 304 that encodes video data andprovides statistic data 324 of the encoding process performed by theencoder 304, and a video quality module 306. The video quality module306 takes the network connection statistic data 322 and the videoencoder statistic data 324 as input, and outputs quantitative andobjective video quality measures 326. In an alternate embodiment, thevideo encoder 304 is a third-party component. In such a case, for easeof reference, it is also said to be module of the specialized real-timevideo communication software application 222. Similarly, a third-partynetwork connection module 302 is also said herein to be a component ofthe specialized real-time video communication software application 222.

A video encoder is a computer software program or a set of programs thatencodes raw video data, which is also referred to as sequence. Itperforms compression on input video data. In one implementation, thevideo encoder 304 conforms with the H.264 standard and is thus referredto as an H.264 encoder. H.264 (also referred to as Advanced VideoCoding, or MPEG-4 Part 10, Advanced Video Coding), is a videocompression standard based on block-oriented, motion-compensatedinteger-DCT coding.

The video quality module 306 is a lightweight real-time video qualitydetermination module because the statistics 324 of the encoder 304 andthe statistics 322 of the network connection module 302 are readilyavailable, and do not incur extensive mathematical calculations toobtain them. Such statistic data 322-324 can obtained by, for example,reading a memory location where the data is stored, and calling APIs(Application Programming Interfaces), The network statistics 322, suchas bandwidth measured by bitrate, indicate how many bits of video thatcan be sent per second. It directly affects the video quality on thereceiving electronic devices. More bandwidth means better video quality.The network statistics 322 can also include jitter, package-loss, delay,etc. Besides bandwidth and other network statistics 322, video contentalso plays a vital role in video compression and video quality. Videocontent can be reflected by the encoder statistics 324.

The video encoder statistics 324 are maintained by the encoder 304, andnot derived from complex mathematical calculations in addition to theoperations of the video encoder 304. In one implementation, the encoderstatistics 324 include the following encoder statistics:

-   -   p_avg_qp stands for the average quantity parameters of P frames    -   frame_rate stands for the number of frames per second    -   p_16×16I stands for the percentage of 16×16 intra block in P        frames    -   p_8×8I stands for the percentage of 8×8 intra block in P frames    -   p_4×4I stands for the percentage of 4×4 intra block in P frames    -   p_16×16 stands for the percentage of 16×16 inter block in P        frames    -   p_16×8 stands for the percentage of 16×8 inter block in P frames    -   p_8×8 stands for the percentage of 8×8 inter block in P frames    -   p_skip stands for the percentage of skip block in P frames    -   y_intra stands for the percentage of intra block in luma    -   dc_intra stands for the percentage of intra block in chroma DC    -   ac_intra stands for the percentage of intra block in chroma AC    -   y_inter stands for the percentage of inter block in luma    -   dc_inter stands for the percentage of inter block in chroma DC    -   ac_inter stands for the percentage of inter block in chroma AC

A P frame (also referred herein as P-frame) is one type of inter framesin video compression. Chroma DC stands for Chroma Direct Current oftransform coefficients. Chroma AC stands for Chroma Alternating Currentof transform coefficients.

In a first implementation, the video quality module 306 determines thevideo quality perceived by the users of the receiving electronic devicesof the sent video content based on the first formula below:

${{First\_ video}{\_ quality}{\_ measure}} = {{a_{1} \times {p\_ avg}{\_ qp}} + {a_{2} \times \frac{bitrate}{2}} + {a_{3} \times \frac{{p\_ avg}{\_ qp}^{3}}{625}} + {a_{4} \times {\log({bitrate})}} + a_{5}}$

The set of coefficients a₁ through a₅ are weights in the formula above.In one implementation; the first objective video quality measuredetermined by the formula above is calculated by the electronic devicesending the video content. Generally, the p_avg_qp and the bitrateparameters are the most important factors in determining the receivedvideo quality. The First_video_quality_measure thus achieves a ninetypercent accuracy. In one implementation, Pearson Linear CorrelationCoefficient (PLCC) is used to calculate the correlation between theground truth values and the predict value (i.e., the first objectivevideo quality measure above). The accuracy is determined by a processshown and illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 .

Referring to FIG. 4 first, a simplified block diagram illustrating theprocess to assess the accuracy of the first objective video qualitymeasure above is shown and generally indicated at 400. Raw video data isin the form of sequences 402. The encoder 304 converts the sequences 402into a bitstream 404 by compression and other processing. In oneimplementation, the bitstream 404 is an H.264 format bitstream. Toassess the quality distortion level caused by the encoder 304, thedecoder 406 decodes the bitstream 404 and generates the reconstructedsequence 408. The reconstructed sequence 408 is also referred to as adistorted sequence since it is of less quality due to the compression bythe encoder 304 on the original sequences 402. An objectivefull-reference video quality metric module 410, such as a videomultimethod assessment fusion (VMAF) module, operates on thereconstructed sequence 408 and the original sequence 402 to generate anaccuracy score 412. This score is also referred to as a ground truthvalue.

The accuracy assessor module 414 then compares the first objective videoquality measure (or the second objective video quality measure set forthbelow) against the score 412 to determine the accuracy of the firstobjective video quality measure or the second objective video qualitymeasure set forth below. In one implementation, the accuracy assessormodule 414 uses the PLCC to determine the accuracy. The accuracy ismeasured by the correlation between the score 412 and the score 326. Thecorrelation is further illustrated by reference to FIG. 5 . Referring toFIG. 5 , a plot diagram showing the correlation between the score 412and the score 326 is shown. The horizontal axis represents the score 326while the vertical axis represents the score 412. The fact that thepoints are generally along the diagonal line indicates the high accuracyof the first objective video quality measure and the second objectivevideo quality measure set forth below.

The first objective video quality measure derived from the formula aboverequires two division operations with the denominators being integers, asingle logarithm operation, a single exponential operation with anexponent of three, four multiplication operations and four additionoperations. The exponential operation is essentially equivalent to twomultiplication operations. It does not involve any integral operations,derivative operations, root operations (such as 2nd root operations, 3rdroot operations, etc.).

In a further implementation, the video quality measure is enhanced, anddetermined by the second formula below:

Second_video_quality_measure=First_video_quality_measure+a₆×frame_rate+a ₇ ×p_16×16I+a ₈ ×p_8×8I+a ₉ ×p_4×4I+a ₁₀ ×p_16×16+a ₁₁×p_16×8+a ₁₂ ×p_8×8+a ₁₃ ×p_skip+a ₁₄ ×y_intra+a ₁₅ ×dc_intra+a ₁₆×ac_intra+a ₁₇ ×y_inter+a ₁₈ ×dc_inter+a ₁₉ ×ac_inter,

The set of coefficients a₆ through a₁₉ are weights in the formula above.The enhanced video quality measure Second_video_quality_measure achievesa ninety-five percent accuracy. The accuracy is determined by theprocess illustrated in FIGS. 4 and 5 . In one implementation, the valuesof the coefficients a₁ through a₁₉ are:

a₁=−0.206a2=0.266a₃=−0.386a₄=0.257a₅=−129.61a₆=−0.296a₇=1.997a₈=−2.08e⁻¹⁴a₉=2.631a₁₀=2.174a₁₁=2.14a₁₂=2.043a₁₃=2.158a₁₄=0.00942a₁₅=0.1022a₁₆=−0.0374a₁₇=0.0342a₁₈=−0.0137a₁₉=−0.179

The coefficients a₁ through a₁₉ are weights that may vary betweendifferent encoders. The second objective video quality measure derivedfrom the formula above only requires fourteen addition operations andfourteen multiplication operations. Multiplication and additionoperations are of extremely low-cost operations on the underlyingcomputer's processing unit. It does not involve any integral operations,derivative operations, root operations (such as 2nd root operations, 3rdroot operations, etc.) or other mathematical or statistic operationsthat are expensive in terms of the resource consumption on theunderlying computer's processors.

Obviously, many additional modifications and variations of the presentdisclosure are possible in light of the above teachings. Thus, it is tobe understood that, within the scope of the appended claims, thedisclosure may be practiced otherwise than is specifically describedabove.

The foregoing description of the disclosure has been presented forpurposes of illustration and description, and is not intended to beexhaustive or to limit the disclosure to the precise form disclosed. Thedescription was selected to best explain the principles of the presentteachings and practical application of these principles to enable othersskilled in the art to best utilize the disclosure in various embodimentsand various modifications as are suited to the particular usecontemplated. It should be recognized that the words “a” or “an” areintended to include both the singular and the plural. Conversely, anyreference to plural elements shall, where appropriate, include thesingular.

It is intended that the scope of the disclosure not be limited by thespecification, but be defined by the claims set forth below. Inaddition, although narrow claims may be presented below, it should berecognized that the scope of this invention is much broader thanpresented by the claim(s). It is intended that broader claims will besubmitted in one or more applications that claim the benefit of priorityfrom this application. Insofar as the description above and theaccompanying drawings disclose additional subject matter that is notwithin the scope of the claim or claims below, the additional inventionsare not dedicated to the public and the right to file one or moreapplications to claim such additional inventions is reserved.

What is claimed is: 1-16. (canceled)
 17. A real-time video communicationsystem electronic device for determining an objective video qualitymeasure of a real-time video communication with a second real-time videocommunication system electronic devices over a network connection, saidreal-time video communication system electronic device comprising: 1) aprocessing unit; 2) a memory operatively coupled to said processingunit; 3) one or more input interfaces operatively coupled to saidprocessing unit; 4) an audio output interface operatively coupled tosaid processing unit; 5) a network interface operatively coupled to saidprocessing unit; 6) a video output interface operatively coupled to saidprocessing unit; 7) a video input interface operatively coupled to saidprocessing unit; 8) an audio input interface operatively coupled to saidprocessing unit; 9) an operating system executed by said processingunit; 10) a real-time video communication software application adaptedto be executed by said processing unit, said real-time videocommunication software application having a video quality module; and11) wherein said real-time video communication software application isadapted to: (a) send video data to said second real-time videocommunication system electronic device over the Internet over saidnetwork interface, said sent video data captured by said video inputinterface; (b) send audio data, captured by said audio input interface,to said second real-time video communication system electronic deviceover said network interface; (c) receive video data to from said secondreal-time video communication system electronic device over said networkinterface; (d) output said received video data over said video outputinterface; (e) receive audio data from said second real-time videocommunication system electronic device over said network interface; (f)output said received audio data over said audio output interface; (g) bysaid video quality module, receive network connection statistic datafrom a network connection module, said network connection statistic dataindicating status of a network connection with said second real-timevideo communication system electronic device over said networkinterface, said network connection statistic data including a bitrate;(h) by said video quality module, receive video encoder statistic datafrom a video encoder, said video encoder statistic data including ap_avg_qp, a frame_rate, a p_16×16I, a p_8×8I, a p_4×4I, a p_16×16, ap_16×8, a p_8×8, a p_skip, a y_intra, a dc_intra, a ac_intra, a y_inter,a dc_inter, a ac_inter; (i) by said video quality module, determine afirst objective video quality measure by:${{{First\_ video}{\_ quality}{\_ measure}} = {{a_{1} \times {p\_ avg}{\_ qp}} + {a_{2} \times \frac{bitrate}{2}} + {a_{3} \times \frac{{p\_ avg}{\_ qp}^{3}}{625}} + {a_{4} \times {\log({bitrate})}} + a_{5}}};$(j) by said video quality module, determine a second objective videoquality measure by:Second_video_quality_measure=First_video_quality_measure+a₆×frame_rate+a ₇ ×p_16×16I+a ₈ ×p_8×8I+a ₉ ×p_4×4I+a ₁₀ ×p_16×16+a ₁₁×p_16×8+a ₁₂ ×p_8×8+a ₁₃ ×p_skip+a ₁₄ ×y_intra+a ₁₅ ×dc_intra+a ₁₆×ac_intra+a ₁₇ ×y_inter+a ₁₈ ×dc_inter+a ₁₉ ×ac_inter, (k) whereina1=−0.206, a2=0.266; a3=−0386, a4=0.257, a5=−129.61, a6=−0.296 a7=1.997,a8=−2.08e-14; a9=2.631, a10=2.174; a11=2.14, a12=2.043, a13=2.158,a14=0.00942, a15=0.1022, a16=−0.0374, a17=0.0342, a18=−0.0137,a19=−0.179.
 18. The real-time video communication system electronicdevice of claim 17 wherein said video encoder is an H.264 video encoder.19. A real-time video communication system electronic device fordetermining an objective video quality measure of a real-time videocommunication with a second real-time video communication systemelectronic devices over a network connection, said real-time videocommunication system electronic device comprising: 1) a processing unit;2) a memory operatively coupled to said processing unit; 3) one or moreinput interfaces operatively coupled to said processing unit; 4) anaudio output interface operatively coupled to said processing unit; 5) anetwork interface operatively coupled to said processing unit; 6) avideo output interface operatively coupled to said processing unit; 7) avideo input interface operatively coupled to said processing unit; 8) anaudio input interface operatively coupled to said processing unit; 9) anoperating system executed by said processing unit; 10) a real-time videocommunication software application adapted to be executed by saidprocessing unit, said real-time video communication software applicationhaving a video quality module; and 11) wherein said real-time videocommunication software application is adapted to: i. send video data tosaid second real-time video communication system electronic device overthe Internet over said network interface, said sent video data capturedby said video input interface; ii. send audio data, captured by saidaudio input interface, to said second real-time video communicationsystem electronic device over said network interface; iii. receive videodata to from said second real-time video communication system electronicdevice over said network interface; iv. output said received video dataover said video output interface; v. receive audio data to from saidsecond real-time video communication system electronic device over saidnetwork interface; vi. output said received audio data over said audiooutput interface; vii. by said video quality module, receive networkconnection statistic data from a network connection module, said networkconnection statistic data indicating status of a network connection withsaid second real-time video communication system electronic device oversaid network interface, said network connection statistic data includinga bitrate; viii. by said video quality module, receive video encoderstatistic data from a video encoder; and ix. by said video qualitymodule, determine a first objective video quality measure using saidnetwork connection statistic data and said video encoder statistic data.20. The real-time video communication system electronic device of claim19 wherein said video encoder is an H.264 video encoder.
 21. Thereal-time video communication system electronic device of claim 19wherein said video encoder statistic data includes a p_avg_qp, and saidfirst objective video quality measure is given by${{First\_ video}{\_ quality}{\_ measure}} = {{a_{1} \times {p\_ avg}{\_ qp}} + {a_{2} \times \frac{bitrate}{2}} + {a_{3} \times \frac{{p\_ avg}{\_ qp}^{3}}{625}} + {a_{4} \times {\log({bitrate})}} + {a_{5}.}}$22. The real-time video communication system electronic device of claim21 wherein a1=−0.206, a2=0.266, a3=−0.386, a4=0.257, a5=−129.61.
 23. Thereal-time video communication system electronic device of claim 21wherein said real-time video communication software application isfurther adapted to, by said video quality module, determine a secondobjective video quality measure using said first objective video qualitymeasure, said network connection statistic data and said video encoderstatistic data.
 24. The real-time video communication system electronicdevice of claim 23 wherein said video encoder statistic data includes aframe_rate, a p_16×16I, a p_8×8I, a p_4×4I, a p_16×16I, a p_16×8, ap_8×8, a p_skip, a y_intra, a dc_intra, a ac_intra, a y_inter, adc_inter, a ac_inter, and wherein said second objective video qualitymeasure is given by:Second_video_quality_measure=First_video_quality_measure+a₆×frame_rate+a ₇ ×p_16×16I+a ₈ ×p_8×8I+a ₉ ×p_4×4I+a ₁₀ ×p_16×16+a ₁₁×p_16×8+a ₁₂ ×p_8×8+a ₁₃ ×p_skip+a ₁₄ ×y_intra+a ₁₅ ×dc_intra+a ₁₆×ac_intra+a ₁₇ ×y_inter+a ₁₈ ×dc_inter+a ₁₉ ×ac_inter,
 25. The real-timevideo communication system electronic device of claim 24 whereina1=−6.206, a2=0.266, a3=−0.386, a4=0.257 a5=−129.61, a6=−0.296,a7=1.997, a8=−2.08e-14, a9=2.631, a10=2.174, a11=2.14 a12=2.043,a13=2.158, a14=0.00942, a15=0.1022, a16=−0.0374, a17=0.0342,a18=−0.0137, a19=−0.179.